The Environment Agency has issued more than 100 flood warnings as heavy rain
and gales are forecast to hit parts of the UK today

Travel disruption is expected this weekend as forecasters warn more flooding is on the way with heavy rain and winds of up to 70mph expected in the south.

Speed restrictions will be in place on parts of the train network from this evening and the Environment Agency has issued more than 160 flood warnings, many of these in Somerset which has seen acres of land underwater for the last month.

A flood warning sign in the village of Muchelney in Somerset (PA)

The agency has warned flood defences could be overcome and travel disrupted because of “gales and big waves” expected in parts of Cornwall, Somerset and Bristol.

Students in parts of Wales have also been evacuated from their homes until Monday as a precaution.

Up to 1.6 inches (40mm) of rain is expected in areas of the South West and Wales today, and is likely to bring more misery to people living in the Somerset Levels where some villages are now only accessible by boat.

The military was called in to the Somerset Levels on Thursday, where acres of land has been underwater for the last month.

Michael Eavis, farmer and host of Glastonbury Festival, has blamed flooding in the area on a decision by the Environment Agency to stop dredging and sell off vital equipment.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Years ago, the Environment Agency took over from the regional drainage board and they decided that the riverbanks were all full of life and everything, and so they stopped the dredging. They sold all these marvellous machines that were made in Lincoln called draglines - fantastic machines, real British engineering - and they sold them off for scrap.

"There were about 50 machines and they were sold for nothing, which was a terrible, terrible decision. But it was an environmental decision in order to preserve the riverbank life - river oysters and little voles and things.

"It floods every winter here now," he said. "It's not a 100-year thing. It floods every single year and it never used to. For the sake of the meadows and the wild flowers and the fields and the farmers and the cows, this drainage has to be done. There's no other way of doing it."

Mr Eavis, whose farm is on higher land and has not been affected by floods, said that the annual festival will be able to go ahead this year.

High tides will leave coastal areas in the South West at risk of flooding and parts of south-east England, the North West and Yorkshire and Hull coast will also be affected by the wind, rain and high tides in the next few days.

A Nasa satellite image shows the huge storm cloud over the Atlantic as it heads to the UK (Atlas Photo Archive/NASA)

Network Rail has put speed restrictions in place for parts of the railway network. Southeastern trains which run services between London to Kent and parts of East Sussex will have 40mph limits in place from 8pm tonight.

A spokesman for Network Rail confirmed the Southeastern network was the only one to be affected by the restriction as the area is "particularly susceptible to landslips."

He said: "The purpose is to keep people moving but to limit the safety risk. If there are any obstructions on the track the train will be able to come to a stop."

Emma Compton, a forecaster at the Met Office, said more wet weather is forecast throughout Sunday and into next week.

She said: "There is quite a lot of rain to come today. Wales and Dartmoor will see most of this, with 30 to 40 mm of rain falling in some areas.

"It's going to be a windy day as well, with gales around the coast in parts of the south, South West and Wales.

"But Saturday is going to be the really windy day as we could see gales anywhere, with stronger winds along the coast. Gales of up to 70mph are most likely along exposed parts of the coast, particularly across the South West as well as northern parts of Devon and Cornwall, and Wales."

Sleet, hailstorms and rain are forecast for Saturday with snow expected on higher ground. The Met Office has issued yellow warnings for snow today in parts of the north and Scotland, as rain is expected to continue due to pressure coming in from the Atlantic.

Ms Compton added: "On the hills in Wales, North West England and Scotland these showers will fall as snow, but lower lying land will see more rain."

Flood barriers have been put up at Frankwell in Shrewsbury to protect against a rise in river levels on the Severn after heavy rain in Shropshire on Tuesday, and temporary defences are also set to be erected at Bewdley on the Severn.

A local resident uses the temporary pontoon near to the village of Langport in Somerset (PA)

In Wales, students in seafront halls of residence at Aberystwyth University are being evacuated today until 4pm on Monday as a precaution.

A statement issued by the Environment Agency said: “Areas at risk on Saturday and Sunday include coasts and tidal areas of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire as gales and big waves combine to cause possible overtopping of flood defences and sea walls, property flooding and travel disruption.

A school boy waits to be picked up by the humanitarian support boat near Muchelney (SWNS)

The risk of river flooding continues, as with the ground already saturated rivers are very responsive to rainfall.”

The Royal Marines were called to the Somerset Levels on Thursday and are currently on standby to help villages cut off after the area was hit by the worst flooding in 20 years.

However, Labour have described the decision by the Government to call in the military as "spin" while residents have been left wondering why this type of response was not called in a month ago.

Emily Thornberry, shadow attorney general, said the Coalition was making "policy by photo opportunity".

She told BBC's Question Time last night: "The Prime Minister said he was going to call in the Army and the Army arrive and they go home again.

"This is policy making by photo opportunity. It's very unfortunate.

"Two majors arrive and now they're gone again.

"The spin we had was that the Prime Minister had called in the Army and then we see it's two majors who have gone home.

"This is the way we seem to be running things."

The military were called in on Thursday morning but by the afternoon it was announced they would remain on standby as ministers were "very comfortable" with contingency plans in place, should the floods worsen.

More than 60 pumps have been used to try to drain an estimated 1.5 million tonnes of water - equivalent to 600 Olympic-sized swimming pools - off the Levels.

The UK saw 6.5 inches (164.6mm) of rain fall throughout January, 35 per cent above the average making it the wettest start to the year since 1910.

The South East has been worst hit by the downpours, with 6.9 inches of rain falling, more than double the regional average.